shrimp and cleaner crew

[stevej]

ok so i have all the rock i want in. now can i put a shrimp and some snails in?

 

[Fishmonger70]

Did you put any more rock in or did you just leave what you already
had in there?

 

[stevej]

i put two more small ones in because i didnt get your reply til after i bought em.

 

[Fishmonger70]

You can basically put shrimp and other invertabrates in at any time after your tank is done cycling. What are your water parameters like. Putting more rock in your tank after you have livestock in it is not really a good idea IMO. I don't really mean to sound like a donkey's rear end, but I can see this setup ending in disaster down the road.

 

[stevej]

ok my levels r at zero now but the ammonia level is raising a little bit. but anyway forget that sump thread bc i thought u could just run a hose to and from but now i no otherwise . buy onto somethin else, i have another tank thats a ten gallon. i was gonna see if i could make that into my refugium sorta thing. if i do start that ill just take water from my main tank and put it in the ten. but will i need to get another filter . i have a light and a powerhead. i just really dont wanna spend to much money on it if im only puttin in brine shrimp and small things.

 

[Fishmonger70]

The new pieces of rock you put in is probably starting a mini cycle. Probably won't be that much but wait a few more days until your levels are all back at zero to put in your invertabrates. Keep an eye on your ammonia. You don't want it going too high or you could comprimise your fish.

 

[Fishmonger70]

BTW, what type of skimmer did you get? As far as a refugium goes its the same concept as the sump as far as water flow goes. You can actually get a Hang on refugium for what you want to do.

 

[stevej]

ok this is the exact one i got NEW PROTEIN SKIMMER w 530GPH PUMP POWERHEAD AQUARIUM - eBay (item 230359905321 end time Aug-21-09 09:12:01 PDT)

but i dont want it to have any tubes and things running into my main tank. i was just gonna syphon em out and put em in there.also i was going to make this thing where u put this screen stuff over rocks and make it into a cyclinder shape and close it off at the ends and the pods will go into there wen i put them into my tank.

 

[Fishmonger70]

Huh? If I had a choice between that protein skimmer and no protein skimmer, I would go the no skimmer route.

 

[stevej]

o well it was one of the first things i bought i didnt really no wat i was looking for. but do i need anything besides sand powerhead light to start that other tank?

 

[Fishmonger70]

Were is this tank going, how do you plan on getting water into it and then .back into your display? Water just cant move up hill on it's own. You need to pump it back into the tank via return pump

 

[stevej]

i no i wasnt planning on having it go back into the tank thru tubes. i was just gonna let the pods grow and reproduce in here for a while then suck them out thru a turkey baster thing or whatever its called and then put em into my display tank. and i was gonna put it in the stand of my tank.

 

[Fishmonger70]

Where is the protein skimmer going then?

 

[stevej]

im just gonna forget about or ill prob but it on the back of the tank where no one can see it and just run some pvc from the powerhead in the tank to it on the back. but i really need to no if im gonna need a heater or anythin else cause if so then im gonna go get it today.

 

[Fishmonger70]

I would just forget about the refugium too